Woods claims share of lead at Wyndham after shooting 65

Greensboro, North Carolina—Tiger Woods signed up for his first Wyndham Championship knowing a win would definitively keep his season from ending. 

He’s halfway there.

Woods shot a 5-under 65 last Friday (last Saturday in Manila) to share the second-round lead with rookie Tom Hoge.

“I’m only at the halfway point,” Woods said. “Only 36 holes. We’ve still got a long way to go.”

Woods and Hoge were at 11-under 129. Hoge shot a 67.

The sport’s biggest name put himself in prime position to contend for his first victory in more than two years, one that would send him into the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Woods followed his best round since 2013—a first-day 64—with one almost as good.

He made his big move up the leaderboard on the back nine, with birdies on Nos. 12 and 13 and an eagle on the par-5 15th that gave him a share of the lead.

“I just couldn’t get anything out of my rounds (before this tournament) and a couple lucky bounces here, take advantage of those opportunities—it’s just the flow,” Woods said.

He was to spend Saturday playing with an unfamiliar rookie. When asked if he would recognize Hoge, Woods responded: “No, I wouldn’t. What is it, or him?”

“I look on the Champions Tour leaderboard and I know every one of those guys because I played against them and I played with them,” Woods said. “Now I come out here, I don’t really know a lot of people.”

Davis Love III and Chad Campbell were a stroke back. Campbell shot 65, and the 51-year-old Love had 66.

Brandt Snedeker matched the tournament record with a 61 that put him in a group of six players two strokes behind Woods and Hoge.

But for the second straight day, the big story at the Sedgefield Country Club was Woods.

He missed the cuts in the last three majors and hasn’t finished better than a tie for 17th at the Masters. At No. 187 on the FedEx Cup points list, he would definitely crack the top 125 with a win and qualify for the Barclays this week in New Jersey. Depending on how the math works out, a solo second-place finish also might be enough.

He took advantage of some prime scoring conditions during the first round, shooting that 64 on a course softened by showers that morning. That left him two strokes off the lead.

And then, playing under a hot afternoon sun that sped up those undulating greens, Woods almost matched it.

“I wasn’t quite as sharp as I was yesterday,” he said. He capped that run of consecutive birdies with a 25-foot putt on the 13th that drew a mighty roar from the huge gallery.

Then came his eagle.

He placed his second shot about 10 feet behind the hole and, after his downhill putt fell into the hole, he followed with his trademark fist pump.

And as strong as his round was, it also easily could have been even better.

He settled for birdie on the par-5 fifth when his 10-foot eagle putt lipped out, then missed a 15-foot birdie putt on the next hole. He left a 10-foot birdie putt an inch from the hole on the ninth.

“I’ve shot 59 and I left a couple shots out there,” Woods said. “The great thing about golf, you can always get a little bit better.” AP